Check your attitude at the Rio door

by Aaron Angerman

The time has arrived. The 2009 World Series of Poker is just around the corner and excitement is brewing at the Rio Las Vegas.

This will be the 40th running of the WSOP and Harrah´s is pulling out all the stops. There are 57 bracelet events on the schedule, including a special 40th anniversary $40K No Limit tourney and a $1K buy-in NLHE event that is expected to break live tourney attendance records. Don´t forget about the $50K HORSE and the ten $10 World Championship events, including the Main Event and the return of the "November Nine".

The WSOP has become a steamroll, both as a brand and as a poker event. Never before has the game been more global and the average age of the typical poker player drops every day. But Harrah´s isn´t satisfied, and they shouldn´t be. They´re looking to make improvements to attract more players and make each WSOP better than the one previous. This year, the WSOP tournament staff will running an extra-tight ship, starting with a new policy on obscenities.

This from the official 2009 WSOP Tournament Rules:

"Harrah´s prohibits the use of obscene or foul language in any public area of the casino at any time. Any player who uses such language or makes a foul, profane, obscene or vulgar statement, or speaks abusively or in an intimidating manner to another player, a dealer or a Tournament staff member, will be penalized."

In the 2008 rule book, your foul and/or abusive language had to be directed at somebody. If you got two-outered on the river and dropped an F-bomb to nobody in particular, floor persons would just look the other way. If you got two-outered and called somebody an F-bombin´ donkey, they´d then step in.

If they really needed to stop obscenities not aimed at anybody, they stuck the following line at the end of last year´s rule:

"In Harrah´s sole and absolute discretion, it may impose at any time a zero-tolerance policy for profane language whether directed at another person or not."

Well, it looks like zero-tolerance is here to stay. The 2008 rule says that "it may impose" that zero-tolerance policy. This summer, there will be no "may" about it. Obscene or foul language is now prohibited. And not just in the tournament area. From the sounds of it, Harrah´s won´t be having and cussing "in any public area of the casino at any time." So if you usually cuss about your bad beats while on the rail or in line for pizza, better look over your shoulder in case a floor person is lurking. You could be sitting out some hands.

They say the first occurrence will garner a verbal warning. If you already received a warning, or the floor was just having a bad day, you could be sitting out from as little as one hand all the way up to four orbits. If you really screw up, they´ll just remove your chips from play and tell you to go home, maybe ban you from all Harrah´s properties if you´re a total buffoon. Ultimately, it´s all up to the floor person.

According to the updated rule, WSOP staff "can disqualify a person for a first offense if action of player is deemed worthy." Probably not going to happen from a simple F-bomb, but how do they plan on treating tirades like Scotty Nguyen and Phil Hellmuth produced during last year´s Series?

Last year, in the two highest profile events on the schedule, two former Main Event champions caught a case of mouth dhiarreah in front of the ESPN cameras. An inebriated Nguyen cussed out everyone in sight on his way to the $50K HORSE crown. Hellmuth flipped his lid after dumping a pot to Christian Dragomir late in the Main Event. Initially, the "Poker Brat" was to miss one orbit. After some sweet talking, Hellmuth was let off with a slap on the wrist and never missed a hand.

If it wasn´t for these two cases, we´d probably be looking at a much lighter rule book right now. We had seen the "Hevad Khan Rule" eliminate most of the ridiculous chair-dancing, over-the-top stuff. Isn´t that enough? Are they going a little far with the zero-tolerance policy? This is Las Vegas. Sin City. Our tourism is driven by the "What Happens Here Stays Here" slogan, for crying out loud. It´s not like we´re talking about the holiest of places. It´s a casino. It´s poker.

If the new zero-tolerance policy isn´t enough, the WSOP staff will have a log to record each and every penalty handed out during the Series. Piss off the staff and you´re name is going the little black book. No word as to what Harrah´s plans to do with this log, but I´m hoping for a PacMan-like high score board on the WSOP page.

It´s obvious that the tournament staff has to keep control of the game. If somebody had given Scotty a warning for any of the dozens of obscenities directed at the players, staff and even cocktail girls, maybe the $50K HORSE is still on ESPN and players can drop the occasion F-bomb, just as long as it´s not directed at anyone. If somebody makes an example out of Scotty, maybe Hellmuth can´t talk his way out of the Main Event penalty like he did. So not only are these two great players damaging the game, they are no doubt receiving special treatment. I have a hard time believing I would have been forced to sit out a few hands for cussing out Michael DeMichele or Erick Lindgren. I would also bet against me talking my way out of a one-orbit penalty with the WSOP brass. The bottom line, this is Las Vegas. Everyone at the table is an adult. Perhaps enforcing the rule in place would have been a better step than zero-tolerance. How long until the 1st Amendment comes into play?

Can´t make it to Las Vegas or the Rio? Poker Pages has your covered. Beginning May 28th, PokerPages.com will be providing live coverage of the 2009 WSOP from the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Our team of reporters will be providing the best in live updates and photos from the tournament floor. If you want to check on your favorite player, get the latest chip counts and bustouts, or just want to satisfy your tournament fix, PokerPages.com is your source for everything WSOP!

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